Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Note 2 - Risks and Uncertainties

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Note 2 - Risks and Uncertainties
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Notes to Financial Statements  
Unusual Risks and Uncertainties [Table Text Block]

2.

Risks and Uncertainties

 

DiaMedica operates in a highly regulated and competitive environment. The development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products require approval from, and are subject to ongoing oversight by, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the European Union and comparable agencies in other countries. We are in the clinical stage of development of our initial product candidate, DM199, for the treatment of AIS and CRD. We have not completed the development of any product candidate and do not generate any revenues from the commercial sale of any product candidate. DM199 requires significant additional clinical testing and investment prior to seeking marketing approval and is not expected to be commercially available for at least three years, if at all.

 

On July 6, 2022, we announced that the FDA placed a clinical hold on the investigational new drug application (IND) for our Phase 2/3 ReMEDy2 trial. The clinical hold was issued following us voluntarily pausing participant enrollment in the trial to investigate three unexpected instances of clinically significant hypotension (low blood pressure) occurring shortly after initiation of the intravenous (IV) dose of DM199. In September 2022, we submitted our analysis of the events leading to and causing the hypotensive events, and proposed protocol modifications to address the mitigation of these events for future trial participants. Following review of this analysis, the FDA informed us that they were continuing the clinical hold and requesting, among other items, an additional in-use in vitro stability study of the IV administration of DM199, which includes testing the combination of the IV bag, IV tubing and mechanical infusion pump, to further rule out any other cause of the hypotension events. The requested in-use study was completed at an independent laboratory and the results were substantially consistent with our earlier testing of the IV bags. In May 2023, these additional supporting data were submitted to the FDA in our clinical hold response. In June 2023, the FDA completed review of our clinical hold response and informed us that the clinical hold was removed allowing us to resume our Phase 2/3 ReMEDy2 trial.

 

Prior to the clinical hold of our ReMEDy2 trial, we had experienced slower than expected site activations and enrollment in our ReMEDy2 trial and may continue to experience these conditions as we activate additional clinical sites and enroll participants. We believe this was due primarily to clinical staff shortages resulting from layoffs and employee burnout, the reallocation of clinical nurses to COVID-19 care, particularly during surges in COVID-19 cases, a loss of study coordinators resulting from budget constraints and COVID-19 vaccination requirements and concerns managing logistics and protocol compliance for participants discharged from the hospital to an intermediate care facility. In an effort to mitigate the impact of these factors, we have worked with our contract research organization to develop alternative procedures to support study sites and potential participants as needed. We intend to continue to monitor the results of these efforts or implement additional actions to mitigate the impact of these factors on our ReMEDy2 trial, however no assurances can be provided as to if and when these issues will resolve.

 

 

Our future success is dependent upon the success of our development efforts, our ability to demonstrate clinical progress for our DM199 product candidate in the United States or other markets, our ability, or the ability of any future partner, to obtain required governmental approvals of our product candidate, our ability to license or market and sell our DM199 product candidate and our ability to obtain additional financing to fund these efforts.

 

As of December 31, 2023, we have incurred losses of $115.6 million since our inception in 2000. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we incurred a net loss of $19.4 million and negative cash flows from operating activities of $18.7 million. We expect to continue to incur operating losses until such time as any future product sales, licensing fees, milestone payments and/or royalty payments generate revenue sufficient to fund our continuing operations. For the foreseeable future, we expect to incur significant operating losses as we continue the development and clinical study of, and to seek regulatory approval for, our DM199 product candidate. As of December 31, 2023, we had combined cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $52.9 million, working capital of $50.9 million and shareholders’ equity of $51.1 million.

 

Our principal source of cash has been net proceeds from the issuance of equity securities. Although we have previously been successful in obtaining financing through equity securities offerings, there is no assurance that we will be able to do so in the future. This is particularly true if our clinical data is not positive or if economic and market conditions deteriorate.

 

We expect that we will need substantial additional capital to further our research and development activities, complete the required clinical studies, regulatory activities and manufacturing development for our product candidate, DM199, or any future product candidates, to a point where they may be licensed or commercially sold. We expect our current cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities to continue our ReMEDy2 trial and otherwise fund our planned operations for at least the next 12 months from the date of issuance of these consolidated financial statements. The amount and timing of our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including timing and results of our ongoing development efforts, including our current ReMEDy2 trial and the rate of site activation and enrollment in the study, the potential expansion of our current development programs, potential new development programs, the effects of COVID-19, staffing shortages and other factors on our clinical trials and our operating expenses. We may require significant additional funds earlier than we currently expect and there is no assurance that we will not need or seek additional funding prior to such time, especially if market conditions for raising capital are favorable.